The need for mobile apps for businesses is much more than maintaining an online presence. It is a source to generate massive revenues, expanding the customer base, generating new business prospects, reinforcing brand image, etc. Everybody has something to offer and thus, in such a dog-fight, it is extremely necessary for businesses to lure customers in different ways to ensure their retention and loyalty towards their service and brand. When the user is concerned, it is not the technicality of the app that counts. It is the features and the interface of the app that makes the difference to the user, which decides its fate and in turn the fate of the company. Thus, it is important that user engagement should be given top most priority and with this mindset, the UI/UX of the app should be designed so that the user never feels the need to opt for another app. Let’s delve into the basics of UI/UX of mobile apps and how it helps in customer retention.

What is UI? : A User Interface (UI) is the space where a human and a machine interacts with each other. The medium of interaction depends on the environment that constitutes the individual and the machine. When mobile phones and humans interact with each other, the interaction takes place through a Graphical User Interface (GUI). The GUI is not restricted only to the tabs and navigation menu in an app. In fact, the entire functioning of the app depends upon it.

What is UX? : A User Experience (UX), as the name suggests, is the experience a user has while using the app. Their emotions and behavior when using the app account for this. It comprises of pragmatic, worthy, meaningful facets of human – mobile app interaction. A flawless UX guarantees the return and loyalty of a consumer. Developing UX of an app involves a lot of research, analysis of user behavior, a rock solid planning and many other things.

Now that we have a brief idea about what a UI/UX is, let’s discuss some of its vital components below.

Usual Suspects: The most basic requirements to make an app appealing, is the use of understandable or at least familiar symbols, icons, tabs, etc. This makes the user feel at home and familiar with functionalities of those elements. The colour schemes and themes for the app should not repel the user. For instance, a smooth and bright colour scheme makes the user happy. Also, whilst these things are paid attention to, users should also be given the freedom to customize the look of the app according to their will and mood. This makes the user feel special.

Keep The Confusions At Bay: While creating an app, the prime focus should be on the simplicity of the design. An app’s UI should be self-explanatory and just in case your app is overloaded with features, make sure to include a small app tour in the beginning. This makes users familiar with your app and enables them to use its functions and features with ease.

Lags & Jitters Are For Losers: The last thing an app’s UI should do is to bog down the speed of the user’s device. A user would opt for anything but, an app that slows down or freezes his device. To ensure a faster UI, the app should shed excess load. The smaller the size of the app, the faster it is. It should also be duly noted that the app should be swift when working online. An app that takes time load even when the device has access to a fast internet connection, has some defects and needs to be checked and corrected on a priority basis.

Consistency:An app should maintain its consistency when the user navigates from one page to another. The layout should almost replicate itself so that a user doesn’t encounter a major change. It makes the user familiar with new pages of the app and helps him in efficiently navigating through the app and the new functions that he comes across.

Conclusion: UI is what a user first comes across, and his return and loyalty to your app and brand depends entirely upon his experience and interaction with the app. It is important for businesses to preserve and expand their customer base and although, technical aspects are important, the UI/UX of the app can’t be ignored as that is the driving force for customer retention.

About Techugo: We’re a mobile app development companyand we develop mobile apps for businesses customized to their needs. We realize that UI/UX forms an essential component of the mobile app development process and hence, our development process especially focuses on the look and feel of the app apart from the technical specification to provide users with an overall satisfying experience.

A TECH-CHAPTER FROM GOOGLE I/O 2016

Google has always left the world and specially me, speechless with it’s unique and invincible tech concepts. It has been proven further with their recent announcements made at Google I/O 2016. I have always adored the way, Google announces it’s new set of technologies. Even this year, Google I/O was initiated with 7,000 developers and journalists at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California. But something which became the center of excellence was the way Google did things, it was highly unprecedented this time, being compared to previous years. This year Google introduced some bold new consumer-facing products that reflected technology’s biggest trends.

So, I would be sharing a brief of all the tech gadgets introduced within this conference. There are various gadgets, announced during the Google I/O 2016. Here is the excerpts from the tech-story.

At first, I would like to talk about the Google Home, which is actually a loudspeaker with internet-connection that responds to voice commands and offers access to a smart assistant in the cloud. Albeit, Google’s vision has crossed the imagination, since this device integrates with Google Cast, the home entertainment technology that powers the company’s Chromecast streaming adapter and is increasingly finding its way into stereo systems and TV sets as well. Due to the integration, Google Home brings voice control to any Chromecast-equipped television. This enable voice access to Google-powered calendars and messaging, and can control internet-connected light bulbs and other appliances.

For my bad luck Google Home has not been released yet and cost has not been discussed as well, else it would have been in my lounge.

Another gadget, which wooed me thoroughly with its impressive specifications, is Mi Box, which is a courtesy of Chinese phone maker Xiaomi. It is combined with Android-based gaming with video services like Netflix, Hulu, Showtime, and HBO Now. Something which excites me most, is Mi Box’s base on Google’s Android TV platform, which make it run on TVs from Sony and Sharp, among others. It’s not the first set-top to use Android TV, but it is the first to support 4K video playback and HDR.

Another sad story to conclude with is, no clue on cost has been revealed yet.

To end the gadget war, I would love to share another gadget, which I found quite exciting and engaging, is Daydream, which is a huge leap in the field of virtual reality. Google has opened a new era of VR, by not just focusing on a single VR headset; instead, it’s working with mobile-phone makers, including Samsung and HTC, to manufacture VR–optimized phones, available later this year, that will work with Daydream headsets. These headsets will be more comfortable than Google’s previous Cardboard viewers, and will come with a remote control for playing games and navigating menus. Google plans to sell its own Daydream headset as well.

The company has partnered with HBO, Hulu, Netflix, and sports leagues like the NBA to build VR Apps that will populate a Daydream version of the Google Play store. YouTube, which is owned by Google, is getting ready to launch on Daydream as well.

With these incredible tech gadgets news, I shut my Tech Diary for today. Keep reading to feed yourself with the latest tech updates.

You can get in touch with our team to discuss further your concept to bring into reality. The discussion would help you to gain a better insight of your app requirement.

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MWC SHANGHAI- A FEAST FOR TECH-FANS

Technology knows no barrier. Since there has been a great and remarkable evolution of digital technologies and drastic change in users’ habits, the domestic and overseas mobile operators have extended their business scope to innovative and exciting tech- fields beyond the conventional businesses. Every year, there are numerous mobile conferences, but to discuss the upcoming opportunities & existing and expected challenges in mobile technology, can be witnessed at MWC- Shanghai. This year, more than 2,200 companies participated in MWC- Shanghai, spread in nine halls and one dozen outdoor spaces at Fira Gran Via and Fira Montjuïc. Everything from virtual reality, new handsets and ingenious app ideas, to 3D printing, privacy protection and backend solutions were on display.

This year’s conference at Mobile World Congress-Shanghai was held 29th – 1st July and the GSMA Innovation City was the center of excellence and garnered the major highlights at Mobile World Congress Shanghai. Over 100,000 attendees came to Mobile World Congress 2016, from 204 countries and territories and was covered by more than 3,600 members of the international press and media. The attendees experienced the technology in context and discussed how mobile-connected products and services can improve their daily lives in industrial applications as well as home, automotive, health, agriculture and others. For more interest of the tech-lovers, the exhibition focused the areas such as the Connected Devices Zone, Future Tech Zone, Internet Planet and Start-Up Alley, as well as the Innovation and App Lab.

The other tech topics were explored such as big data, devices, digital commerce, digital inclusion, enterprise mobility, financial services, the Internet of Things (IoT), mobile broadband/network evolution, mobile identity and privacy and security, among others. Truly, Shanghai’s three-day Mobile World Congress was an arena for industry players and it expanded to cover four halls at the SNIEC. The Mobile World Congress Shanghai exhibition showcased the leading products, services and technologies that are shaping the future of mobile, from handsets and devices to network infrastructure, software and services and much more. Huawei is confirmed as a Platinum Event Partner and Snail Mobile as a Gold Event Partner and both companies had a presence in the exhibition; they joined more than 400 participating companies, including Acadine, Comba Telecom, Datang Telecom Technology & Industry Group, Empirix, FarEastone, Hewlett Packard, Kona-I, LeTV, Mediatek, Oberthur, Phicomm, RFS Radio Frequency System, Sandisk, SAP, SK Telecom, Sony Imaging, Visa and ZTE, among others.

The show floor also included regional pavilions from Israel, Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. Exhibitors from the globe, showcased their latest technologies, to name a few, the sophisticated sensors, enhanced digital technology and GPS connectivity, drones revolutionized the way technology handles our lives. This conference not just had a huge number of tech big shots from the tech world, but also a big chunk of tech experts from many foreign small-and-medium sized firms also made a presence to grab the perfect opportunity for their business domain.

The GSMA developed a range of programs designed to amplify attendees’ knowledge of key trends in the mobile industry. During the three days of Mobile World Congress – Shanghai, GSMA Programs included could see first-hand how mobile-connected products are transforming our personal and working lives.

Along with the Digital Commerce Summit, Entertainment Unlimited Summit, Global Device Summit, IoT Summit and Mobile Security Forum, the best part was the Virtual Reality Summit, which addressed the pioneers, futurists and innovators at the forefront of the industry to discuss the role of virtual reality in the fields of gaming, film and retail, among others, as well as how to drive the mainstream adoption of this advanced technology.

It’s not surprising that the mobile industry has always offered fun and surprises with cutting-edge advances in technology, but the industry players at MWC widen the imaginations of others. This conference is basically a solid foundation of various cooperation will enhance the technology and innovation exchanges to accelerate the development of tech-industry, the next Mobile World Congress is going to be an exciting, not-to-be-missed event.

You can get in touch with our team to discuss further your concept to bring into reality. The discussion would help you to gain a better insight of your app requirement.